1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card assembly apparatus for assembling PC cards and the like.
The present invention also relates to a card inspecting apparatus for conducting, for example, an electrical inspection of PC cards and, more particularly, to a card inspecting apparatus capable of performing steps of an electrical inspection from a card supplying step up to an inspection/ejection step.
Further, the present invention relates to a card magazine capable of housing a plurality of PC cards which is used for, for example, a card assembly apparatus for assembling PC cards and the like and a card inspecting apparatus for conducting an electrical test on assembled PC cards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, there is increasing use of compact cards, including PC cards in compliance with PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association), which provide predetermined functions when inserted into personal computers (hereinafter abbreviated as xe2x80x9cPCsxe2x80x9d), audio and video apparatuses. Other compact cards other than PC cards include Compact Flashes (registered trademark of Sun Disk Corporation) and MMCs (Multimedia Cards) proposed by Multimedia Card Association. Those cards are used as storage devices having solid-state memories or data communication devices for modems, LANs (local area networks) and the like.
For example, card assembly apparatuses like that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H5-208577 have been used for steps of assembling such cards. In the disclosed card assembly apparatus, automation is achieved in steps of pressing, heating and cooling memory cards which have been manually tentatively bonded. A heat block is heated up in advance, and a pressing cylinder is elevated to press and heat memory cards between the heat block and itself. This melts bonding sheets which are thereafter thermally set to achieve final bonding. There is also provided a pressure adjuster which absorbs variations of the thickness of memory cards to apply a uniform pressure to a plurality of memory cards.
However, the above-described conventional card assembly apparatus automates only a part of card assembly steps and, for example, no mechanism is provided to apply reinforcement resin for filling a part of a gap between a substrate and a shield cover of a card. Therefore, the application of reinforcement resin is still troublesome in that an operator must manually apply the reinforcement resin to the substrate or shield cover of each card.
Further, since the conventional card assembly apparatus includes no mechanism for inserting an insulation sheet between a substrate and a shield cover, the insertion of an insulation sheet necessitates a manual step to be performed by an operator, which results in a problem in that the throughput of card assembly is reduced. Similarly, the insertion of a shield cover into a frame also relies on a manual operation because no mechanism is provided therefor, which is a factor that hinders improvement of yield of manufacture. Further, the operations of supplying card to be assembled to the assembly apparatus and collecting assembled cards also rely on operators. This results in a problem in that the need for operators"" intervention results in a cost increase and in that an idle time of the card assembly apparatus required to rest or replace operators reduces the throughput of card assembly.
At the final step of assembly, such cards are subjected to an electrical inspection using a card inspecting apparatus to see whether predetermined functions properly work or not. Since such a card inspecting apparatus performs a predetermined electrical inspection with the cards to be inspected inserted in a connector for electrical connection, a card inspecting apparatus having a card inserting/removing device, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H7-6220 is used. The disclosed card inspecting apparatus has a conveyor to transport manufactured memory cards sequentially. The conveyor holds manufactured memory cards on an upper surface thereof and feeds them in a predetermined direction to transport the memory cards to the card inserting/removing device.
A Memory card which has been transported to and stopped at the inserting/removing device by the conveyor is lifted up as a result of an upward movement of a table of a lift-up mechanism and is held at the same elevation as that of an eject connector. A contact piece of a pushing mechanism is driven for protrusion in the inserting direction of the memory card to be put into contact with an end face of the memory card, and the memory card is consequently pushed into the eject connector. When the electrical inspection of the memory card is completed, a button-pushing mechanism operates to push an eject button. As a result, the memory card is elastically projected from the eject connector by an urging mechanism provided in the eject connector.
In the above-described conventional card inspecting apparatus, however, memory cards must be manually placed on the conveyor one by one and must be manually picked up from the conveyor one by one again when the inspection is completed. This results in a problem in that the need for operators"" intervention results in a cost increase and in that an idle time of the card assembly apparatus required to rest or replace operators reduces the throughput of card assembly.
The above-described card inspecting apparatus has another problem in that it takes a considerable time to perform an inspection because only one card can be inspected at a time.
Further, while so-called input/output cards (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cI/O Cardsxe2x80x9d) such as modem cards, LAN cards, adapter cards for Smart Media, ISDN cards, ATA cards, and so on have a back connector to be connected to a telephone line, a LAN cable or the like in addition to a connector to be connected to a PC, the above-described conventional card inspecting apparatus does not accommodate any electrical inspection on the side of the back connector.
While the eject button of the above-described conventional card inspecting apparatus is pushed to remove a memory card from the eject connector when the electrical inspection is completed, the exterior of the eject button is formed using resin such as plastics which can be broken, and failure is likely to occur in the interior because of wear and the like. Further, since the interface connector of a memory card and the eject connector are mated with a considerably high mating force, the above-described eject button system has a problem in that a card may not be removed.
As described above, the operations of supplying cards to be assembled to the assembly apparatus and collecting assembled cards rely upon operators. Further, the supply and collection of memory cards to and from the card inspecting apparatus also rely upon operators. This results in a problem in that the need for operators"" intervention results in a cost increase and in a reduction of the throughput of the card assembly and inspection.
One known way for solving the above-described problems is the use of a magazine for housing a plurality of cards and a mechanical mechanism for picking up cards from the magazine without operators"" intervention to perform predetermined processes thereon. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. H5-46819 discloses a system in which cards are supplied from a magazine located at a card supply port of a card visual inspection apparatus. In this system, when a magazine becomes vacant as all cards therein are supplied, another magazine is moved in turn to the card supply port to start supply of cards therefrom. A card in the magazine is lifted up to an opening of the magazine with appropriate means, and air flows from nozzles blow lateral surfaces of the card to float the card. A picker provided with a vacuum absorption function at an end thereof is then moved into the vicinity of a top surface of the card to absorb and hold the card.
In the case of a conventional magazine as described above, air flows from nozzles blow lateral surfaces of a card to float the card and a picker having a vacuum absorption mechanism at an end thereof is moved into the vicinity of a top surface of the card to absorb, hold and transport the card. Therefore, the magazine must be open on the top side thereof and, when the magazine is dropped by mistake during transportation, the cards are scattered, which results in a potential problem in that the cards themselves are broken in the worst case.
Further, the above-described magazine does not have a configuration which allows a plurality of such magazines to be transported at a time.
Furthermore, since a considerably large die is required for the manufacture of the above-described magazine, there is a problem in that the manufacturing cost of the magazine is high.
It is an object of the invention to provide a card assembly apparatus which makes it possible to reduce the assembly cost of cards and to improve the throughput of card assembly.
It is another object of the invention to provide card assembly apparatus which makes it possible to perform steps of filling reinforcement resin, inserting an insulation sheet, inserting a cover and thermo-compression bonding continuously.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a card inspecting apparatus which makes it possible to reduce the inspect ion cost of cards and to improve the throughput of card inspection.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a card inspecting apparatus which makes it possible to inspect a plurality of cards at a time.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a card inspecting apparatus which makes it possible to perform an electrical inspection of cards having a back connector even on the side of the back connector.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a card inspecting apparatus to and from which a card can be smoothly inserted and removed at an electrical inspection.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a card magazine which makes it possible to reduce the assembly and inspection costs of cards and which contributes to an improvement of the throughput of card assembly and card inspection.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a card magazine which makes it possible to assemble or inspect a plurality of cards continuously.
The above-described objects are achieved by a card assembly apparatus comprising an assembly process portion for assembling a card by sandwiching a frame for holding a substrate with two shield covers on both sides thereof and bonding them together, and a supply magazine portion for sequentially supplying the frames for holding a substrate to the assembly process portion.
The above-described objects are achieved by a card assembly apparatus comprising an assembly process portion for assembling a card by sandwiching a frame for holding a substrate with two shield covers on both sides thereof and bonding them together, wherein the assembly process portion comprises a resin applying portion for applying resin to the substrate.
A card assembly apparatus according to the above-described aspect of the invention is characterized in that the resin applying portion has switching means to allow positions to apply the resin to be switched.
Further, the above-described objects are achieved by a card assembly apparatus comprising an assembly process portion for assembling a card by sandwiching a frame for holding a substrate with two shield covers on both sides thereof and bonding them together, wherein the assembly process portion comprises a sheet inserting portion for inserting a sheet on to the substrate. A card assembly apparatus according to the above-described aspect of the invention is characterized in that the sheet inserting portion has a sheet cutting die for cutting the sheet and in that the sheet cutting die can be replaced to provide an arbitrary configuration.
Furthermore, the above-described objects are achieved by a card assembly apparatus comprising an assembly process portion for assembling a card by sandwiching a frame for holding a substrate with two shield covers on both sides thereof and bonding them together, wherein the assembly process portion comprises a cover inserting portion for aligning the shield covers to be bonded to the frame for holding the substrate.
A card assembly apparatus according to the above-described aspect of the invention is characterized in that the cover inserting portion has a cover magazine for housing a plurality of shield covers to supply them to the frame sequentially. It is further characterized in that protective materials are interleaved between the plurality of shield covers housed in the cover magazine.
The above-described objects are achieved by a card assembly apparatus comprising an assembly process portion for assembling a card by sandwiching a frame for holding a substrate with two shield covers on both sides thereof and bonding them together, wherein said assembly process portion comprises a top side processing portion for performing assembly on the top side of the frame holding the substrate, a bottom side processing portion for performing assembly on the bottom side of the frame holding the substrate, and an inverting portion provided between the top side processing portion and the bottom side processing portion for inverting the frame holding the substrate.
Furthermore, the above-described objects are achieved by a card assembly apparatus comprising an assembly process portion for assembling a card by sandwiching a frame for holding a substrate with two shield covers on both sides thereof and bonding them together, and a housing magazine portion for housing cards assembled by the assembly process portion sequentially.
The above-described objects are achieved by a card inspecting apparatus characterized in that it has a conveyor for moving a supply magazine loaded with cards containing a substrate incorporating electrical parts and a vacant supply magazine loaded with no such cards which are placed thereon, a card supplying portion for picking up the cards from the supply magazine loaded with the cards, a transport portion for transporting the card pick up by the card supplying portion, an inspecting portion for performing a predetermined electrical inspection on the cards transported by the transport portion and a card housing portion for housing good ones among the cards which have been electrically inspected in the vacant supply magazine.
A card inspecting apparatus according to the above-described aspect of the invention is characterized in that a plurality of the inspecting portions are provided along a transport path of the transport portion. It is also characterized in that the inspecting portion have a plurality of connectors for measurement of a card having a plurality of connectors which are respectively connected to the plurality of connectors. The plurality of connectors for measurement are respectively connected to card-side connectors having an interface with, for example, a PC and to back connectors provided on the opposite side of the same. It is further characterized in that the inspecting portions have an eject mechanism for preventing movement of the connected card when the connectors of the card and the connectors for measurement are disconnected.
In a card inspecting apparatus according to the invention, a plurality of cards can be inserted in the supply magazine and set on the conveyor. When the supply magazine reaches the card supply portion, the cards can be pushed out by a push-out rod provided at the card supply portion into the transport portion sequentially, for example, starting with the card contained in the uppermost stage of the supply magazine. After all of the cards are supplied to the transport portion, the magazine is moved by the conveyor to the card housing portion where it can be then used as a vacant supply magazine for housing good cards which have passed the inspection.
Since a plurality of the inspecting portions are provided, different inspections can be simultaneously carried out on separate items for inspection. For example, in the case of a card for communication, an inspection on the communicating function can be separated from other functional inspections to decrease the inspection time, and a cost advantage can be achieved because there is no need for preparing a plurality of measuring apparatuses having the same function. When the same inspection is carried out at a plurality of inspecting portions, the inspection time can be decreased because a plurality of cards can be inspected simultaneously. Further, since the eject mechanism is provided to prevent movement of connected cards when the connectors of the cards and the connectors for measurement are disconnected, cards can be smoothly inserted to and removed from the connectors for injection at an electrical inspection.
The above-described objects are achieved by a card magazine capable of housing a plurality of cards, characterized in that it has a housing having a general configuration like a rectangular parallelepiped in which a top portion and a bottom portion are secured together through both lateral portions and in which a front portion and a rear portion are open and concave and convex portions provided on the top and bottom portions which engage each other when the housing is stacked with other housings with the opening at the front portion faced vertically upward.
The above-described objects are achieved by a card magazine capable of housing a plurality of cards, characterized in that it has a housing having a general configuration like a rectangular parallelepiped in which a top portion and a bottom portion are secured together through both lateral portions and in which a front portion and a rear portion are open, plates made of a metal provided at the lateral portions and a plurality of side wall portions made of resin secured in parallel to the plates.
A card magazine according to the above-described aspect of the invention is characterized in that it has guide rails formed on card housing sides of the side wall portions and chamfers in a mount-like configuration formed on the guide rails. Further, a card magazine according to the above-described aspect of the invention is characterized in that it has a stopper rod provided at the rear side for positioning cards and a gap for observing cards defined between the lateral portions and the stopper rod.